Train drivers set to strike on two days in next month in long-running pay dispute, RMT and Aslef unions announce
17 January 2023, 10:14 | Updated: 17 January 2023, 17:54
Train drivers are set to strike on two days in February in long-running dispute over pay, the RMT and Aslef unions have announced.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said: “Our negotiations will continue with the rail operators to create a package on jobs, conditions and pay that can be offered to our members.”
The union said its members at 14 train operators will walk out on February 1 and 3.
The 14 operators are: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).
Earlier, Aslef announced that train drivers who are members of the union would strike on the same days after it rejected a pay offer.
The first of the strike dates on February 1 will coincide with a walkout by 100,000 civil servants in their dispute over pay and jobs, a strike by teachers over pay and nationwide protests against the Government's controversial new strike law.
Train operating companies had offered Aslef's drivers a "fair and affordable offer" that would have seen the average salary rise by almost £5,000 by the end of 2023.
The two-year pay deal, the latest in a bid to resolve the protracted dispute between the government and rail unions, had also included a commitment to no compulsory redundancies until at least March 31 2024.
Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said: "The offer is not acceptable but we are willing to engage in further discussions with the train operating companies.
“Not only is the offer a real-terms pay cut, with inflation running north of 10%, but it came with so many conditions attached that it was clearly unacceptable.
“They want to rip up our terms and conditions in return for a real-terms pay cut. It was clearly a rushed offer, made just before our meeting with the minister, and not one, it seems to me, that was designed to be accepted.
“Our members at these companies have not had an increase since 2019, despite soaring inflation, and it is time the companies - encouraged, perhaps, by the Government - sat down with us and got serious.
“That is the way - and the only way - to end this dispute.”
Responding to Aslef's rejection, the Rail Delivery Group said it was disappointing that its "fair and affordable" pay offer wasn't put to the union's members.
A spokesperson for added: "With taxpayers still funding up to an extra £175m a month to make up the shortfall in revenue post-Covid, it provided a significant uplift in salary for train drivers while bringing in long overdue, common-sense reforms that would mean more reliable services for passengers."
It urged the union to "recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better railway with a strong long-term future".
The train companies affected by the Aslef strike include: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; London North Eastern Railway; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway (depot drivers only); SWR Island Line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.
